Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was an English film director and producer. He was born on August 13, 1899 in Leytonstone and died on April 29, 1980 in Bel-Air, Los Angeles.
Hitchcock made around about 53 films, but he also directed others, such as Aventure Malgache in 1944.

His most famous film was "Psycho," which was in black and white, for it contained the iconic shower scene in which many horrors nowadays owe a lot of their ideas to. This was also quite a shocking movie as well, although it wasn't seen as Hitchcock's best film, it was the most famous and shocking. It was shocking for the fact that he killed off the supposed main character, Marion, about a third into the movie. The early death of the main character who was seen as the heroine, the violence of the shower scene and the many innocent lives destroyed by a disturbed murderer became Hitchcock's trademark, and was the reason why many other producer's and directors copied them for their own horror movies.

Hitchcock appeared briefly in his films, only slight glimpses though, easily missed, but it could show that these stories can happen in real life, and that is why it is so scary. He has a famous quote, that thrillers allow the audience "to put their toe in the cold water of fear to see what it's like," which could mean that the audience need to experience these kinds of thrillers so that they can expect them in everyday life, for they can happen any day, they are normal events that could happen to anybody at any time.

Alfred Hitchcock was harshly treated throughout his childhood, and those harsh treatments are reflected into his films. We see harsh treatment and wrongful accusations frequently in his films. For example, in The Birds, the leading lady is accused for starting the deadly attacks of the birds, and throughout the film, she was constantly attacked by the birds. However, even though Alfred Hitchcock inspired his own films, other films were inspired by his ideas. "What Lies Beneath" is a film that reminds the audience of Hitchcock's film "Rear Window," combining the murder mystery from that film and a may-or-may-not-be supernatural side. The protagonist, Michelle Pfeiffer, is a blonde heroine, the same as the women in Hitchcock films. Moreover, her husband was named Norman, which could be argued that he was named Norman after Norman Bates, from Hitchcock's film "Psycho," where Norman was the Psychopath.

Hitchcock even has his own style of movie, named Hitchcockian. Hitchcockian films are made with styles and themes similar to Alfred Hitchcock's. Some of these characteristics can be the platinum blonde woman, the domineering mother, an accusation of an innocent man, characters who switch sides or cannot be trusted, average people being thrust into dangerous situations and the use of MacGuffins or plot devices.